Whacha Cookin' Tonight?

[warpus]

I fried up some marinated chicken breasts, which I served with some pan fried mushrooms I bought from a hot bar at the local grocery store, served with mashed potatoes. Before that I ate a kale & broccolli soup with mushrooms, which I didn't make myself at all, but it was a part of the meal so it gets a mention.

I buy a kale & broccolli soup once a week in an effort to introduce more nutrients into my diet. It's a vegan soup that's made in store at a hipster-like grocery store, so it's probably loaded with nutrients. Stupid thing is salt-free though, so I have to add a bunch of salt to it to get some good flavour going. Otherwise it's very bland. Very good once it's flavour-infused with salt though (and some pepper). Usually I also buy some thosejapanesemushroomsthatusethatwordlikecrap mushrooms and chop them up in slices and pan fry them in butter until they're golden brown. Throw that in the soup, add some pepper, and the soup tastes amazing. This time I had mushrooms from the hot bar so I threw those in instead. They weren't as good as my usual japanese mushroom addon but it was good enough.

 

[Borachio]

Made some ravioli the other day.

Awful.

Had to throw most of it away.

Experiments with me and food often don't go quite right, but not normally this wrong.

 

[Synobun]

Made some ravioli the other day.

Awful.

Had to throw most of it away.

Experiments with me and food often don't go quite right, but not normally this wrong.

Understandable since ravioli as a concept is awful.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Made some ravioli the other day.

Awful.

Had to throw most of it away.

Experiments with me and food often don't go quite right, but not normally this wrong.

I tried to make ravioli once and it also turned out awful. You really need a crimping tool to have any hope of making decent ravioli.

 

[onejayhawk]

I tried to make ravioli once and it also turned out awful. You really need a crimping tool to have any hope of making decent ravioli.

Not at all. A knife or biscuit cutter works fine. A roller type pizza cutter works really well. The key is to seal the edges.

If you don't like the way it turned out, just cut circles and do tortellini.

J

 

[Borachio]

Well, that's kind of what I did. When I said ravioli, I really should have said little pasty-shaped pasta things.

Still awful. No ifs or buts about it.

 

[civvver]

I don't think I would attempt it without a ravioli press.

 

[civvver]

I made pappardelle and bolognese sauce yesterday. It's an all day sauce, started at lunch time, ready for dinner. It was good but too salty. I followed this recipe which I guess isn't traditional. Traditional bolognese apparently has no garlic, uses white wine and milk. But us americans love our garlic so I did this one. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/pasta-bolognese-recipe-1939315

It has a ridiculous amount of salt if you watch the instructional video. I should've been more wary. It tasted fine as I was cooking it, but I think cooking it way down concentrated the salty flavor and it was too much on my pasta. Of course, I've also heard americans drastically over sauce pasta, that a rich bolognese sauce is really used more like a condiment in Italy. I don't know how true that is, and I made too much sauce and not enough pasta so mine was like a 50/50 ratio and tons of sauce. So that might be partly why it was too salty as well.

In retrospect, bolognese is really good but for what it is it takes too long for me. I prefer a quick 30 minute or so marinara that tastes more like fresh garlic, tomatoes and basil or for meat I'd rather have sausage and peppers in my pasta. Way less work and they taste as good to me.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Not tonight but last night I tried a new recipe for carnitas tacos...slow cooker carnitas crisped in a skillet...they were awesome.

 

[civvver]

Sounds good, I'll try slow cooker anything cus it's usually easy.

 

[onejayhawk]

I made pappardelle and bolognese sauce yesterday. It's an all day sauce, started at lunch time, ready for dinner. It was good but too salty. I followed this recipe which I guess isn't traditional. Traditional bolognese apparently has no garlic, uses white wine and milk. But us americans love our garlic so I did this one. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/pasta-bolognese-recipe-1939315

It has a ridiculous amount of salt if you watch the instructional video. I should've been more wary. It tasted fine as I was cooking it, but I think cooking it way down concentrated the salty flavor and it was too much on my pasta. Of course, I've also heard americans drastically over sauce pasta, that a rich bolognese sauce is really used more like a condiment in Italy. I don't know how true that is, and I made too much sauce and not enough pasta so mine was like a 50/50 ratio and tons of sauce. So that might be partly why it was too salty as well.

In retrospect, bolognese is really good but for what it is it takes too long for me. I prefer a quick 30 minute or so marinara that tastes more like fresh garlic, tomatoes and basil or for meat I'd rather have sausage and peppers in my pasta. Way less work and they taste as good to me.

More like a side dish than condiment. The pasta is tossed with olive oil, garlic and herbs. Serving the sauce on the pasta seems to have originated at Ellis Island. Possibly the sauce was too thin and/or there was no olive oil available.

Pasta Carbonara originated from WW II food shortages.

Pasta Carbonara

12 oz long Pasta
4-6 oz thick cut bacon, diced small
1/2 whole Medium Onion, diced small
2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 whole eggs
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
S&P

Cook pasta to al dente.

Mince bacon and fry to barely crisp. Remove and set aside to drain.
Pour off most of the grease, reserving a small amount
Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté to golden brown. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix together eggs, parmesan, cream, and salt and pepper (lots of pepper) until smooth.
When the pasta is cooked remove a cup of the liquid. Drain the pasta and place it in a bowl.
While the pasta is still really hot, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
The sauce will thicken and coat the pasta. Splash in a little hot pasta water if needed for consistency.
Halfway through return bacon, and sauteed onion/garlic.
Finish adding the sauce, stirring until it's all combined.
Sprinkle with additional parmesan and serve while still warm.

This dish is often served with small cut vegetables, eg zucchini, peas, broccoli, etc. Prepare ahead, if necessary, and add after the egg sauce thickens.

Getting the eggs to cook without curdling is a skill that often requires practice. The hot pasta supplies all the heat, but constant stirring is essential to prevent scrambled eggs. This will not ruin the dish but it deprives you of the rich glossy sauce.

J

 

[BvBPL]

Carbonara is better with coarse pasta like rigatoni than long pasta.
Also, I'd replace the cream with ricotta. Doing so will keep the eggs from scrambling.

 

[onejayhawk]

This is a great dish to twirl on a fork. It's a favorite topping for spaghetti, but linguini is good too. Rigatoni is for dense sauces or baking.

I'll have to try using a wet cheese instead of fatty cream. If nothing else, it will make it healthier.

J

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Sounds good, I'll try slow cooker anything cus it's usually easy.

Link.

 

[onejayhawk]

That's worth it just for the Sriracha mayonnaise. I made some peach/mango salsa a month ago that would be perfect. It very easy. Use a guacamole recipe and substitute fruit pulp for avocado.

Slow cooker shredded meat dishes are worth a cookbook. Does anyone know of one?

My easy version is to rub a package of taco seasoning all over 2-3 pounds of meat. Wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight. Put meat and a jar of salsa in the cooker and cook til falling apart done. Works on any kind of meat.

J

 

[civvver]

wait food shortages on what, tomatoes? So it was easier to find bacon, eggs and cheese than tomatoes?

Though it is interesting how many foods originate out of need for something like preservation or using ingredients on hand.

 

[Zkribbler]

Dinner was nutfin: a green salad.
But lunch was amazing! I went to Kayla'a, my favorite restaurant here on Bohol, with the intent of ordering dishes I hadn't had there before. I combined the appetizer chicken quesadilla [with hot salsa] with a side order of twice-baked potato, containing bacon, mushroom and cheese. Both great!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

That's worth it just for the Sriracha mayonnaise. I made some peach/mango salsa a month ago that would be perfect. It very easy. Use a guacamole recipe and substitute fruit pulp for avocado.

Slow cooker shredded meat dishes are worth a cookbook. Does anyone know of one?

My easy version is to rub a package of taco seasoning all over 2-3 pounds of meat. Wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight. Put meat and a jar of salsa in the cooker and cook til falling apart done. Works on any kind of meat.

J

It would be tough to make a book.

Page one: take meat, put in slow cooker, cook until it falls apart.
Page two: take different meat, put in slow cooker, cook until it falls apart.

My personal recipe usually involves "whatever is on sale" floating in "whatever I see first when I open the cabinet" served on "whatever happens to be handy." The hard part is that if someone says "that was good how did you make it?" in many cases by the time it comes out of the pot I forgot what I put in it.

 

[onejayhawk]

wait food shortages on what, tomatoes? So it was easier to find bacon, eggs and cheese than tomatoes?
Though it is interesting how many foods originate out of need for something like preservation or using ingredients on hand.

Not just tomatoes, anything fresh. If I understand correctly, this dish is Roman, so big city. No produce from the farms during the fighting. Available produce was probably used for salad. Dairy cattle were too valuable to abandon. Chickens could be kept in cages. Bacon and cheese are preserved foods. Onions keep for months.

J

 

[onejayhawk]

Corned beef hash and egg scramble. One of my favorite bachelor dishes.

J